Others have done things `worse` than Iran could do: UNGA Prez

United Nations, Oct 4 (PTI) The U.N. General Assembly's
outspoken head Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann apparently annoyed
several western diplomats when he did not criticise Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his remarks that Israel
should be wiped off the earth map, saying that some other
nations have done worse things.

The question came up during Brockmann's press conference
in the light of possibility of Iran contesting for non-
permanent seat of the U.N. Security Council later this year.

Asked whether Iran should be allowed to submit a bid for
temporary membership of the Council in the light of sanctions
against it and Ahmadinejad's call for wiping out Israel,
Brockmann said "there are members in the Security Council
right now who have done things infinitely worse than Iran
could ever do."

To question what could be worse than seeking elimination
of a member state of the world body, he replied that threats
by the President of Iran against Israel were very bad but the
world is not destroyed by words but by actions. Others have
done worse things.

The Assembly President declined to name the specific
Security Council members he was referring to, but quoted a
Spanish saying instead: "For those who have the power of
understanding, you need only a few words."

Diplomats said Brockmann was obviously referring to the
United States' military action in Iraq.

The Council has imposed sanctions to force Iran to
abandon its uranium enrichment programme as the U.S. and its
allies suspect that Tehran's nuclear programme is geared
towards producing atomic weapons. Iran maintains that it is
only for peaceful purposes.

Asked about his opinion on the possible indictment of the
President of the Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, by the
International Criminal Court (I.C.C.), he explained that it
was often difficult for the President of the General Assembly
to speak out on certain issues when negotiations were ongoing.
"I'm trying to work for unity and this is a delicate thing."

I.C.C. Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has sought
arrest warrant against Bashir for crimes against humanity in
Darfur where the U.N. estimates that some 200,000 people died
in the five-year-old conflict including in massacres and of
hunger and disease and more than 2.5 million people displaced
from their homes.

Ocampo said he has evidence that Bashir controls the
attacks in Darfur, where natives are fighting for more control
of scarce resources.

Sudan has warned that issuance of warrants could have
disastrous consequences and some members of the Security
Council are calling for delaying the process by at least one
year.

The Council, which has asked I.C.C. to investigate, can
suspend the process for one year at a time.